Latest Lines: America`s Past Becomes The Present At High Point`s

Market

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Reproductions and adaptations of furniture inspired by the American West, the Teddy Roosevelt era and the Victorian front porch highlighted fall Southern Furniture Market here.

The emphasis on reproductions was a surprising retreat from the avant-garde design featured at the last several shows, toward a comfortable, appealing version of the American past. The Lane Co., Pulaski, Hickory and Palecek, for example, showed dozens of historically derived American pieces. Other companies, like A&B America and Thayer Coggin, which had previously offered angular, brightly colored designs inspired by the Milanese group Memphis, either withdrew their avant-garde pieces or added other styles. Europeans, especially the Danish companies, sidestepped such style

pronouncements altogether, presenting a wide of practical, adaptable and inexpensive family oriented furniture.

``Memphis was not the kind of thing a consumer bought,`` says George Callas, national sales manager of Thayer Coggin, which produces about 60,000 pieces a year. ``Dealers primarily purchased it for displays as floor samples.`` Sofas from Milo Braughman`s Memphis-inspired Prisma collection, for example, have sold only about 70 pieces each since introduced 1 1/2 years ago.

By contrast, Pulaski Furniture Corp. Keepsakes collection, a 90-piece turn-of-the-century reproduction golden oak furniture ensemble, is 10 years old this fall and still in production, having sold more than 1.3 million pieces. The company recently introduced a 30-piece collection called Sagamore Hill in much the same nostalgic spirit as Keepsakes, and within days sold the $5.5 million worth of furniture scheduled for production through January, said Randolph Chrisley, sales vice president.

``We felt that with the increased feeling of nationalism in America, the timing was right to introduce more furniture that was made in America and looked like America,`` he says. ``The Sagamore Hill theme offered more romance, more of a story and a good advertising opportunity.`` Most of the pieces are taken from turn-of-the-century precedents, like the ornate ash burl with wormy maple hall tree, retailing for about $880.

One of the largest collections of historically inspired furniture this fall was that presented by the Lane Co.: 40 wares reproduced or adapted from 18th- and 19th-Century pieces originally created in the West and Southwest and made available by the Museum of American Folk Art. The Club Chair, for example, has mission-style lines and proportions and is large, uncarved and bulky. It sells for about $550 retail. ``Since 1981, when we introduced the first reproduction pieces of the America Collection,`` says Jerry Sodders, a spokesman for Lane, ``we`ve seen a steady growth in sales in the line.``

Raymond Waites, the designer of Hickory Furniture Co.`s 65-piece American Artech, drew upon 200 years of American furniture design in pieces adapted to contemporary use.

For example, the elegant bird`s-eye maple and mahogany apothecary desk, which sells for about $2,500 retail, is detailed to look as though it is made of numerous pigeonholes, but contains instead large storage areas for modern needs, including a place for legal-size folders. The desk typified two other trends: efficient use of space (the front folds down into a desk) and use of mixed woods.

The new Hickory pieces are a mix-and-match collection of distinctive pieces. The company anticipates a significant buying trend: ``People want anything but a homogenous setting,`` says Dan Droz, a furniture designer.

``They`re not afraid of mixing styles, and are buying items, not collections.``

Perhaps the most decorative and nostalgic of the historic collections was O`Asians`s wicker furniture. The company recently expanded the Ralph Lauren-designed line of porch Victoriana, first presented at High Point in spring, and added other pieces done by in-house designers, such as large, wicker porch chairs ($399). Palecek also showed wicker chairs, several subtly crafted with seamless stretches of wicker, continuous even at the edges.

Foreign exhibitors continue to be a strong presence at High Point. This fall they numbered 124, 4 more than last spring. The most striking departure was the simple, adaptable furniture introduced by a consortium of 50 Danish companies exhibiting in the same space. Unlike many contemporary pieces presented by American companies, the furniture seemed relatively unconcerned with style, and boasted little design appeal other than its simplicity. Most was knockdown.

A corner desk, for example, in teak with side shelves, has a desk top that folds in the middle so that the entire unit can collapse into a compact standing desk. When folded, the piece--shown by Vantinge and retailing for $799--can be used as a telephone table or a lectern.